A bipartisan group of US lawmakers has formally asked the Federal Trade Commission to conduct a "thorough" review of the $55 billion take-private acquisition of Electronic Arts, warning that the transaction could produce negative outcomes for the publisher's workforce.

The request, first reported by GamesIndustry.biz, inserts the EA deal into the broader federal debate over consolidation in the games industry and the labor consequences of large-scale ownership changes. Lawmakers framed their communication to the agency around the impact on workers — a concern that has grown louder across years of studio closures, mass layoffs, and contracted-labor disputes inside the sector.

What does the request cover?

The lawmakers urged the FTC to weigh potential harm to EA employees as part of its standard antitrust review. While the agency routinely examines mergers above the Hart-Scott-Rodino filing threshold, an explicit congressional ask for a "thorough" examination raises the political visibility of the proceedings and indicates that labor outcomes — not only competitive effects — are now expected in the agency's analysis.

What changes for EA's teams?

• The transaction cannot close until the FTC and other regulators clear it under standard HSR procedures.
• A "second request" from the agency would extend the waiting period and trigger document discovery between the agency and the parties.
• EA employees, contractors, and union representatives gain a formal channel to submit impact statements during any extended review window.
• Other large gaming transactions may face similar Congressional outreach if labor concerns are deemed credible.

How does this fit the FTC's recent track record?

The agency has shown willingness to litigate major gaming combinations, having sought an injunction against Microsoft's $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard before settling with conduct remedies. The EA review will test whether that posture extends to private-equity-led take-privates, which historically attract less intervention than horizontal mergers among competing publishers.

Regulators traditionally distinguish competitive review from employment outcomes, though the FTC under former Chair Lina Khan increasingly treated labor markets as a sub-component of merger analysis. The current commission has indicated continuity on that point in its published guidance.

What are studios and workers watching for?

The FTC has not publicly committed to a review timeline for the EA transaction. Industry observers will track whether the agency issues a second request, opens a public comment window, or negotiates a consent decree with conduct remedies — the same three exit ramps seen in earlier gaming reviews.

For developers, contractors, and the wider EA workforce, the practical implications remain unchanged until clearance: the take-private cannot complete without regulatory sign-off. Lawmakers have now set the public expectation that sign-off should account for the people inside the studios, not just the structure of the transaction.

The next milestone to watch is the agency's first public action on the deal — a second request, an early termination of the waiting period, or an extension of review — whichever comes first.